Blocked
by BaNanaKittie
Summary: Up until that day, Annabeth was the least popular person around, and Percy Jackson was her enemy. But when events twist and tragedy strikes, she ends up back on the social ladder, with a ruthless blackmailer on her tail. With new friends and an unlikely ally, Annabeth Chase must figure out who this stalker is... before it's too late. Mainly Percabeth!
1. A Twist in the Norm

It was any normal day after school in Manhattan. The only abnormal thing was that Annabeth Chase was walking home as rain pitter-pattered on the sidewalk around her. She wore a smooth blue trench coat with little gold designs over a simple gold dress. Her navy blue heels clicked quietly on the ground as she walked with her hood up and her hands in the pockets of her coat, trying to stay out of the rain.

Normally, the girl would've hailed a taxi to her penthouse, but that day had been a particularly bad one. All of the money she had taken to school with her had fallen in the hallway, and some sleazy kid had grabbed it and run off before she could tell them to give it back. Thus, she had no money to pay a taxi driver. She also had been purposely tripped in the hallway by none other than the school's star jock, Percy Jackson, putting a runner in her tights and a scuff on her left shoe, as if she needed something other than just the rain to ruin her outfit.

So Annabeth was stuck in the position of a lowly Brooklynite, walking briskly home and trying to get there as quickly as she could, lest someone from her school should see her and pick fun at her; which, of course, would be just her luck.

As one of the elite of Manhattan, Annabeth dressed in designer clothes and went to one of the most prestigious schools. She had carried her head high through most of middle school and high school, being one of the most popular girls around. To make it better, she started dating Luke Castellan in her freshman year, a dreamy junior who was quarterback of the football team and in all honors classes to top it all off. Annabeth had everything in the palm of her hand.

She couldn't pinpoint when her fall from grace began. Maybe it was when the school caught wind of her struggle with depression, or maybe it was when Luke left her at the end of her sophomore, his senior year, because the "distance would be too much of a problem," when in all reality, they both knew it was because if her image fell then his image would fall too. Or maybe it was after that, when she didn't come to school for a week after the breakup.

All she knew was that she was now the laughingstock of the school, especially Percy Jackson, who had transferred schools during their sophomore year and had quickly become captain of the swimming team and Luke's substitute quarterback; though now that they were juniors, he filled the full role of quarterback. It was all too easy for Percy to become popular. He was attractive, and he was great at sports; then, when Annabeth hit her downfall and became all the gossip of the school, he was head of the make-Annabeth's-life-hell committee, always spreading rumors he heard about her and teasing her whenever he had the chance, which boosted his image even more.

Just as she was thinking about how he had tripped her in the hall earlier that day, gritting her teeth, and clenching her fists, she heard a loud honk of a sports car to her right. Groaning internally, she turned her head just slightly to see who was driving the car. Sure enough, there was none other than Percy Jackson and his squad; Jason Grace, Leo Valdez, Grover Underwood, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, Piper McClean, and Calypso Sands, all lounging haphazardly in the sports car clearly much too small for all of them, but with the girls practically on top of the boys, it really didn't matter much.

Annabeth quickly looked away from the scene and fixed her gaze straight forward, her mouth forming a straight line as she refused to make eye contact with the driver of the sports car, who was deliberately honking, turning up the bass so that it shook the sidewalk, and jerking the car forward and then stopping each time she managed to get ahead of it.

This went on for a few minutes before the window finally rolled down and Percy yelled out, "Chase!" When Annabeth once again refused to look at him, he tried again. "Hey, Chase, look over here, slut!" This time, she turned and met him with a glare. He grinned, knowing he'd gotten to her, and continued, "Isn't it true that Castellan broke up with you end of last year because you slept around with our entire class?"

"No." Annabeth snapped, her eyes glaring daggers into Percy's. "That's not true. Maybe you should get your facts straight. After all, you didn't even go to this school until last year. So you have no room to talk." She turned and tried to walk again, but he once again jerked the sports car up next to her. She could hear the roaring laughter and suggestions of insults to say drifting from the back seat of the car, and she felt anger boiling under her skin.

"But yet I'm more popular than you, how is that so?" Jackson went on, his voice sounding all too pleased with how the situation was going. "I think I'm right, honey. So why did you sleep with everyone, hmm? Was it because you had an inferiority complex and needed reassurance that you were still good in bed? I heard Luke didn't sleep with you at all towards the end of your relationship. It's probably because he didn't think you were good enough. Is that why you needed the reassurance? You know, I think that-,"

"Shut up!" Annabeth snapped her voice nearly a shriek. Her gray eyes, lately dull, like a slab of silver left unattended for a while, suddenly full of life like raging storm clouds. "Stop making stuff up, Jackson! You know none of that is true, so shut up! No one knows what happened but me and Luke, and that's all that matters, okay?! So stop making up lies, because none of it is true!"

Percy inched the car closer to her and turned up the bass more so that the boisterous people in the back seat wouldn't hear him. He leaned out the window with a smirk, seeming to get quite a kick out of messing with her. "None of it is true, but who are they going to believe, me or you?" Deepening his cruel smirk, he drew back and swerved the car back out into the lane, leaving Annabeth glaring after him and seething. He looked like he was going to yell another jab at her when a car behind them honked angrily, forcing Percy to drive like a normal person.

Annabeth huffed, crossing her arms as they drove away and continuing on her way, realizing by now that her attempts to get home without getting too wet were futile, because she was drenched from the rain which was only pouring down harder. The car that had forced Percy to speed up flashed away, leaving the backroad dull as usual until Annabeth reached the main road that led to her penthouse.

When she finally got to it, she opened the door to find one of the Chase family's two maids, Leona, standing there looking worried. Annabeth brushed past her and kicked her heels off into a corner, dropping her bag next to them as Leona hurriedly helped Annabeth get her coat off and rushed it over to a bin of clothes to be washed and dried.

"Where have you been, mistress?" Leona asked concernedly as she darted around Annabeth like a hummingbird, glancing at her and her belongings quickly for clues. "You never arrive home this late. Did you not hail a taxi? Your coat is soaked! And your shoes are scuffed!" She fixed Annabeth with a worried look, her bright blue eyes glimmering. "Should I have Margaret make you a spot of tea, or have Hestia prepare the fire for you mistress?"

"I'm fine, Leona," Annabeth said, forcing her voice to sound calm after her encounter with Percy Jackson. It wavered slightly and she swallowed to suppress her anger with him. "Someone took the money I would've used for the taxi today at school. I dropped it, and they picked it up and ran off. But tea does sound nice right now."

Leona nodded quickly, seeming to think it better not to push Annabeth when she was angry, and scurried off. Annabeth sighed, walking across the lavish parlor into a large room with a big, blue couch in it. She fell onto the couch, listening to the sound of black character shoe heels clicking as Hestia, the other maid, brought her a white blanket and draped it over the lower half of her body.

Hestia, much less energetic and talkative than Leona, walked away in silence just as she had come, nodding only in response to Annabeth's thanks. Shortly after, Margaret came out, wearing a gray dress as opposed to the maids' black dresses, indicating that she cooked for the family, and set a cup of tea on the table next to Annabeth.

"Have you been having trouble at school again?" Margaret asked, as though on second thought as she had nearly turned to walk out, her voice sounding soft and motherly as she spoke to Annabeth. "Your mother would be very worried if she knew you were going through another bout of depression. Are the kids still being mean to you?"

"No, it's not that, Margaret," Annabeth lied easily, knowing the last thing she needed was to 'worry' her mother. "But I appreciate your concern. I just dropped my money today, that's all. It wasn't anyone being mean to me."

The cook nodded and walked off, accepting the teen's answer and deciding that she would press further only if Annabeth showed more signs of depression again. In her mind, Annabeth hadn't even lied; lying came naturally to the blonde, as was necessary if she were to hold her place among the rest of the elite of the city.

Once the staff of the house finished their flurry of checkups on Annabeth, which happened every day when she got home from school, she relaxed and pulled out her phone, checking it but knowing full well that only one person would have texted her, if at all.

Sure enough, only one name popped up on the screen.

 _Thals:_ Hey, bitch.

Annabeth smiled slightly, typing back a response.

 **Annabeth:** Hey.

 _Thals:_ So, there's this party tomorrow…

 **Annabeth:** No.

 _Thals:_ Please Annie? Everyone in the school is invited, even you.

 **Annabeth:** Great, so literally everyone can make fun of me.

 _Thals:_ No, what I meant by that was there'll be so many people that they won't even notice you.

 **Annabeth:** Yeah, okay. Sure they won't.

 _Thals:_ They won't! Come on, Annie, please! It'll be fun!

 **Annabeth:** I don't like parties.

 _Thals:_ You love parties!

 **Annabeth:** I don't like people.

 _Thals:_ Duh, that's why you have me.

 **Annabeth:** _is typing a response._

 _Thals:_ Hurry up bitch you've been typing for almost five minutes.

 **Annabeth:** Fine, I'll go.

 _Thals:_ Good, because if you said no I was going to knock you out and drag you.

 **Annabeth:** And it's tomorrow…?

 _Thals:_ Yep. Be there or be dragged there.

 **Annabeth:** The term is 'be there or be square.'

 _Thals:_ Don't tell me how to live my life.

 _Thals:_ Cya, hoe.

Sighing, Annabeth set her phone on the table and sipped the cup of tea that had been set down next to her. _'Great,'_ Annabeth thought, running a hand through her loose blonde curls, _'Now Thalia's dragging me to a party with literally everyone who hates me. What could possibly go wrong?'_

Finishing her tea, she took the cup out to the kitchen and put it on the rack of dishes that needed to be cleaned, then turned and went up to her bedroom, where she fell on the queen-sized burgundy-colored bed, turning on Netflix and putting on _Silver Linings Playbook_ while she pulled out her homework and started to complete it.

And that was how most of her evenings went. She got home, the maids attended to her, she talked to Thalia (though it was usually about Thalia beating someone up, not asking Annabeth to go to some social event which to her meant asking her to go through hell), and then she went, did her homework, and watched Netflix, occasionally going to a café or diner with Thalia for dinner and maybe going to a bar or club.

She had no reason to go to parties, as she was never invited, or to throw them, as no one would show up. Her life in middle school and the beginning of high school seemed just like a dream to her; something unattainable and unbelievable. How could she have ever been so popular? How could all of her 'friends' have liked her so much, only to leave as soon as something bad happened to her, rather than stand by her side through it all?

That was how most of the elite of Manhattan were, though. They just stuck with whoever was the most popular. Everyone else were unimportant, merely targets for the school's jeering and hatred. You were either liked by everyone or liked by no one. Annabeth often thought that she was lucky to have befriended Thalia, the only person who seemed to hate everyone but love the person who everyone hated, which was ironic in its own way.

The evening passed uneventfully. As usual, no one came home; Annabeth's mother, Athena Gray, was on a business trip that was sure to last at least two weeks, sending a check every week with a large sum of money to keep Annabeth going as usual. Her father, Frederick Chase, lived with her stepmother, Helen (which was the only name Annabeth knew her as) and her two half siblings, Bobby and Matthew, in a small apartment in Brooklyn.

Annabeth often thought of that side of her family with contempt. Her father hadn't even fought for custody over her; she assumed it was because her stepmother had never liked her. Bobby and Matthew hardly knew she existed, thinking of her more as a distant cousin than as a sister. Annabeth and her father's side of the family hardly spoke, and when they did, it was usually Frederick begging one of the maids to send some money, and then Annabeth would take the phone and tell Frederick that a couple thousand dollars were on the way, and that eventually they would stop sending money and he'd need to get a sufficient job (which never seemed to happen.)

Although it upset Annabeth that her mother was almost always gone, she knew she was better off living with Athena than she would be with Frederick. If she thought life was rough going to Goode and being the main target for hatred, she didn't want to imagine what it would be like going to a large public school in Brooklyn under her father's care. That would be a whole new level of awful.

The rest of the dull, average evening slipped by, and Annabeth went to bed, waiting for the next day with a feeling of dread.

In the morning, Annabeth got up bright and early as usual; despite despising school, she still kept her orderly routine, and worked to protect what little image she had left. Leona came in exactly ten minutes after Annabeth got up to make the bed and tidy up a bit. Meanwhile, Annabeth went into her bathroom and changed into a pale blue dress with quarter-length sleeves and a white bow on the back. She brushed out her loose blonde curls and put on a pair of white character shoes.

Then, she headed downstairs, where a small croissant was prepared on a white plate, and a cup of orange juice was next to it. Annabeth cast a sidelong glance at Margaret, who was pretending she didn't notice Annabeth's presence. Clearing her throat, Annabeth said in a soft yet stern voice, "Margaret? You know I always eat fruit for breakfast."

"You need to eat something substantial, young lady," Margaret said in an equally as stern voice. Annabeth frowned and the two had a short stare-down before Annabeth finally sighed with resignation and sat down at the dining table, eating the croissant with a slight attitude in her movements to show that she wasn't happy about it. Margaret was the only staff member of the house who Annabeth would obey. The motherly cook had practically raised her since Athena was always away. Margaret watched her for a few moments before heading back into the kitchen.

When she finished eating the croissant, Annabeth left it on the table for Margaret to pick up. She felt a slight sense of defiance, so she didn't take it out to the kitchen like she normally would. Gathering her things for school, Annabeth pulled on her royal blue jacket and hailed a taxi, both ecstatic that it was Friday and dreading the fact that it was Friday.

The blonde walked into school with her head down, awaiting the insults, jeers, and jabs that always came from the people around her. When none came, she frowned and looked up. People were whispering and nudging each other, but they weren't casting glances at Annabeth. Instead, their attention seemed drawn to a girl with straight red hair and emerald eyes, who was practically hiding in her locker.

 _'Rachel Elizabeth Dare?'_ Annabeth thought with a frown. She was grateful that they weren't whispering about her, but at the same time, she wondered what the ever-popular RED had done to make everyone talk about her behind her back—and to make her hide by her locker in shame. Quietly, she sped up, going to her own locker before anyone could remember that just the day before they had been making fun of her and not Rachel.

Quickly grabbing her things for her first class, Annabeth headed to first period, where her best friend Thalia was sitting on a desk and preaching to a huge group of people about the rumors about Rachel. Annabeth frowned, wondering if Thalia had been the one to start all of this. She had been complaining about all the people making fun of Annabeth, and she had never particularly liked Rachel, but Annabeth couldn't see Thalia making up rumors about RED.

The blonde walked over to Thalia, clearly unnerved by the large group of people around her best friend, though they didn't even seem to notice the girl who had been their target for gossip for the past year. Annabeth tapped Thalia on the shoulder, and the dark-haired girl turned to look at her friend.

"Hey, Beth; did you hear about RED too? Man, it really is hilarious!"

"Thalia," Annabeth said quietly, her eyes flicking nervously toward the group of people gathered around them, "Did you start the rumors about her?"

"No," Thalia said, frowning for a split second. "Of course I didn't. But listen to this! Apparently she got knocked up by Solace— _Will Solace._ You know, the kid who is obviously gay for Nico DiAngelo? Yeah, it's definitely not good for her reputation. And she's not even denying it, either, which means it must've been true."

"That's nice, Thalia, but I don't think I want to be involved with this particular gossip."

Thalia's eyebrows furrowed. "What's the matter, Beth? It's just gossip."

"Yeah, and even though I hate RED as much as you do, I know how much 'just gossip' can hurt. And the fact that they're all coming onto this from hating me… it just feels weird. So can we please not get involved with this?" Annabeth's eyes were pleading, and Thalia sighed, waving off the group of kids who seemed to be hanging on her every word. They pouted, clearly yearning to hear more about the ironically hilarious scandal, but obeying Thalia because she was terrifying.

Thalia leaned down next to Annabeth with a grin, seeming to forget the serious moment they had just had, and asked excitedly, "You're going to the party tonight, right?"

"Even though I don't want to, yeah, I am going." Annabeth replied, sighing slightly as she sat down at the desk next to Thalia's. Thalia grinned wider, sitting in her seat as opposed to on the desk as she had been before.

"Good. It'll be fun, I promise." Thalia said, flashing her signature grin at Annabeth, though her captivating electric blue eyes made it look intimidating. Scratch that; everything Thalia did looked or seemed intimidating.

The period went by quickly, and the day wore on. Annabeth heard more and more about RED and heard less and less about her, which was both relieving and a little unsettling. It relieved her that they were off her back, but it was unsettling how quickly they had jumped from one ship to another—and RED was NOT handling it well.

After their lunch period ended, Annabeth managed to catch Rachel in the hall. "Dare!" she said, grabbing the taller girl's arm. "Hey, Dare, I'm not going to make fun of you." The redhead turned and fixed her with an unreadable expression.

"Look, I wanted to tell you not to let it get to you. They've made fun of me for the past year. It's awful, sure, but they just need someone to make fun of all the time. Just ignore it, okay?" Annabeth said, hoping the ginger would take her words to heart. Rachel's eyes flickered with something and she looked almost grateful for a second, but then she whipped away.

"Great," Rachel said in a miserable sarcastic voice as she flipped a lock of red hair over one shoulder, "Now I have the biggest loser of the school trying to give me advice. What could be worse?" But as the redhead brushed past Annabeth, she said softly, so softly that Annabeth wasn't sure if it was real or if she'd imagined it, "Thanks, Chase." And with that, Rachel was gone.

The second half of the day passed by much like the first half, and soon enough, they were heading out of the building. Annabeth felt lighter than she had in months, and she walked with a newfound spring in her step to the edge of the road, where she hailed a taxi. Unfortunately, just as she waved her hand to get the taxi to stop, another hand went up as well.

"Jackson?" she asked incredulously, turning to look at the dark-haired boy with one eyebrow raised in questioning. "What happened to your fancy little sports car? And your pack of idiots?" the blonde crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at the jock as the taxi pulled to a stop next to them.

"Mom told me I can't drive again until tomorrow," Percy said, grinning in a teasing way, "and since it was because we got a ticket for the way we drove next to you yesterday, we can act like it was your fault. As for my 'pack,' they all have other ways of getting home." He started to open the door to the taxi when Annabeth stuck out an arm blocking him.

"No way, I got this taxi first!" she snapped, and he rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

"Guess we'll just both have to take it." Percy shoved ahead of Annabeth and got in the taxi, and though she looked beyond annoyed, she plopped into the seat next to him. After closing the door, she scooched over to the window and practically pressed against the inside wall of the car, not looking at Percy as they told the driver where they were each headed.

They rode in tense silence; at least, it felt tense to Annabeth. After what felt like an eternity, the driver pulled up outside of Annabeth's penthouse. She slid out of the taxi and went to hand the driver her money, when she noticed his hand moved more toward her skirt than the money. She slapped it away and tossed the money in the passenger's seat, snapping, "Pervert!" before she slammed the door shut and headed inside.

Had she stayed a moment longer, she might've seen the angry look that crossed Percy's face and heard him tell the driver off for being such a creep. But she never would have stayed a moment longer, and he never would've allowed her to see that.

Walking quietly and shaking off the disturbing encounter from the taxi, Annabeth managed to slip into her penthouse without the maids noticing her, and went to her room before they could talk to her. She kicked off her heels and fell onto her bed, her mind buzzing with the day and a million different questions and wonderings whirling around her mind. Like, how had RED become the target of the school seemingly overnight? Did this mean everyone would just stop making fun of Annabeth? Could she finally rise back to popularity? And what would this mean for RED?

Sighing, Annabeth rolled over and stared at the wall, contemplating how the day had gone. On one hand, it was great. On the other, it was a little unnerving. Annabeth wasn't sure how long she'd just stared at the wall thinking when her phone rang, jolting her out of her thoughts. She picked up the phone and frowned, seeing she hadn't gotten to it in time and that she had a missed call from a blocked number.

Not even thirty seconds had passed when a text popped up on Annabeth's screen, also from a blocked number, and which she assumed was from the same person who had called her. She stared at the message for a while, her mind not fully comprehending it at first.

 _BLOCKED:_ Hey, Chase… better watch out for little RED. You may be used to it, but under the pressure, she's as good as dead.

Annabeth hastily deleted the message and made sure the hidden number was blocked and wouldn't be able to text her again. _'What a creep,'_ she thought as she set her phone off to the side and shook her head in disbelief. _'I guess some of them haven't forgotten that I was always the person to make fun of prior to this.'_

She considered texting Thalia about the mysterious message, but decided against it, instead opting to check social media quickly and read up on the rumors about Rachel, since she still hadn't heard all of them, or at least, she hadn't heard any that she could determine to be true or not. Scrolling through posts, Annabeth worked to decipher which rumors seemed to stick the most, and which seemed the least ridiculous.

By the end of her search, she had concluded that Rachel was seen making out with a boy who looked similar to Will Solace in the back of a truck, but no one knew for sure if it was Solace, or if it was Rachel that they were even seeing with him. They just assumed, and so the whole issue began. Then, someone had started the circulation of a rumor that Rachel was "pregnant with a gay kid's child," which made no sense since the supposed make-out session had occurred the night before, yet everyone seemed to be sharing that one a lot, too.

And all the while, people were digging up more and more dirt about Rachel and just adding to the pile on top of her. Annabeth thought it all seemed strangely familiar, slightly amused at how people did the same things to make fun of people and put them down, and the same things to push themselves up closer to the top.

Noting the time, the blonde stood and began to fish through her closet for something to wear to the party. She looked specifically in the part of her closet which held dresses that still had the tags on them; things she had never worn before. It was practically taboo to wear something to a party twice, after all. And now that she actually had a chance to rise back to popularity, it was a risk she wasn't going to take.

She finally decided on a pale pink chiffon knee-length dress with little crystals forming a pattern of swirls over it and a pair of lace pink flats the same color as the dress. She placed a matching bow in her hair and touched up her makeup before leaning back with a sigh. Although she was excited to rise back through the ranks, she was nervous as well; something about the evening felt wrong, though she just couldn't put a finger on what.

Just as she finished getting ready, her phone buzzed, and she needed only to glance at it to know that Thalia was outside waiting for her. She pulled on a white coat and left her room, going to the elevator and calling out to any of the maids that could hear that she was leaving for a party. She could just barely hear Leona's response as she went down to the lobby of the building and out to her friend's car.

Thalia was wearing a suggestive black dress that was mostly lace and tall black stiletto heels. The intimidating girl always wore black, regardless of what type of party it was. Somehow, she got away with the rule about never wearing the same outfit twice; although it was always a different outfit, the black still fell into that category to some extent.

"At least you weren't a no-show," Thalia commented, revving the engine and pulling out to drive to the party. She threw a glance in Annabeth's direction. "And I see you haven't forgotten how to dress to the nines either. I guess old habits never really die, huh?" Turning her head back to the road, she smiled slightly.

Annabeth shrugged with a little sigh. "I guess not. I just didn't think I'd make my reputation any worse than it already is, you know?" The only response she got was a nod from the now-focused Thalia. They drove in silence for about fifteen minutes before pulling up outside the party venue, a hotel owned by one of the seniors' families.

The two girls got out of the car and headed inside. Thalia, a few inches taller than Annabeth normally, was about half a foot taller than her in the heels she was wearing. She drifted closer to Annabeth as they headed in, fixing anyone who glanced in their direction with her icy blue glare, sending them looking away. It was a habit which she always had, and which Annabeth never really commented on. Thalia was like a guard dog of sorts, though with all the attention being on Dare, it wasn't really necessary at that time.

They entered the party upon seeing the nod of the girl who, no doubt, was roped into making sure no one who wasn't wanted at the party entered by being told that she would be able to go to the party for doing so. It was classic for people to do that to the freshmen; in all honesty, she'd never get the chance to leave her post outside the doors until the party was practically over.

Annabeth looked around when they got in, immediately seeing all of the people who, up until that day, had completely hated on her for no reason other than that her kingdom crumbled and rumors were pulled out of the rubble. And, right front and center, was Percy Jackson, a girl with way too much makeup on hanging from one of his arms, and his pack of pals lounging around him as he told a story about how he had gotten into one of the best strip clubs in Manhattan with no ID.

The blonde sighed. It was going to be a long night.

 **I hope you all are enjoying this story so far; I have a really great plot in mind, so please review and give suggestions!**

 **Thanks so much!**

 **BaNanaKittie**


	2. Let the Game Begin

Annabeth, rolling her eyes with that too-cool-for-you air that she had become accustomed to in crowded places, took off her coat and walked over to the bar, sliding onto a stool and taking advantage of the unsupervised drinks while Thalia walked off to an area nearby to talk to a few people. The bartender, who was a freshman like the one outside, dressed practically in lingerie and who, doubtless, had a much better job than the other girl, walked over to Annabeth and smiled with that look of innocence that Annabeth knew by the end of the night would be replaced by the cool look that started to form after one's first real high school party.

"Just give me a round of shots of the strongest drink you've got." Annabeth said simply, a tone of indifference lacing her words as she looked at the freshman with a look of disdain. The girl's smile seemed to falter slightly and her eyes widened, as though she were shocked that Annabeth could be so indifferent. But she held the smile on and did as she was asked.

As the girl slid the shots in front of Annabeth and she began to lift one, someone sat down on the stool next to her. Annabeth cast the newcomer a glance out of the corner of her eye, tilting the shot glass back and downing the strong, slightly fruity shot in a matter of seconds. Her face hardly contorted at the taste as she examined the girl next to her.

She had tanned skin and chocolate brown hair with lighter highlights in it. It fell straight, just touching her shoulder in layers. She had eyes that on first glance might've been the same color as her hair, on second glance they might've been gray, and the longer you looked, the more indecisive her eye color seemed to be. Tonight they looked deep silver, almost black, as brought out by her long, dark eyeliner lines and gray-shaded smoky eye. She wore a black, provocative dress, and had black feathers clipped under her hair. Annabeth knew who she was before she said anything.

"Annabeth Chase, right?" The girl said in a silky, cat-like voice, almost like a quiet purr. Her eyes swiveled over to Annabeth and flicked up and down her with curiosity lingering in them, then moved to look at the shot glasses on the bar and the drinks lined up further down the bar. She placed her hands on the bar in front of her and leaned back in the stool coolly, her eyes once again flicking back to Annabeth as the blonde nodded.

"I'm Piper," the other girl said again in a friendlier tone, something that might be considered a smile drifting across her face. "Piper McLean," she finished as the bartender walked over to her to take her order. She asked for a glass of vodka and then turned back to Annabeth.

"So," Piper said when her attention was directed back at Annabeth. "You're the one who Perce rats on all the time." She made a slight huffing noise, a small smile still resting on her features. "I don't really know why, though," she continued, "you never have seemed like that bad of a person. And the rumors people come up with are pretty crazy. Just look at Dare… only an idiot would believe any of those rumors, and yet somehow the attention went from you to her in one day. Kind of amazing, actually, don't you think?"

Annabeth straightened up in her seat as she took another shot with a thoughtful expression on her face before responding. "Yeah, I guess it is. I don't understand why you're talking to me about it. Just a day ago you were sitting in Jackson's car while he practically stalked me."

"Touché; but like I said, I never did think you deserved that hatred everyone put on you." Piper casually sipped the vodka that had been placed in front of her and shook her head. "Besides, I always told Perce to lay off you. He just got quite the thrill out of making your life miserable. And it's funny; as soon as the rumors about Rachel started, it was like he never hated you. The things people will do for popularity…"

"So why talk to me now?" Annabeth challenged, tilting the shot glass she held in her hand and watching the liquid still clinging to the bottom of it slide into the corner. Without looking up, she went on. "I mean, besides Jackson's apparent change in mood toward me… which I have a hard time believing was just for popularity. If he wanted to be popular, all he needed to do was publicly humiliate me once. He didn't need to totally target me." She se the shot glass down and crossed her arms. "And even if you told him not to bother me, you never made a point to talk to me before now."

Piper laughed a little, which made Annabeth look taken aback for a moment. The brunette ran a hand through her hair as she finished off the glass of vodka and said with a smile, "I guess you're right; I never said I was exempt from the people who do pathetic things for popularity. I guess I was just too afraid of my place in the social standing to talk to you. And I think a lot of my friends felt the same way. As for why Perce was so harsh on you, I wish I knew; he's usually an open book, but that was something I never figured out. Who knows? Maybe it was some stupid personal reason. Anyways, if you're not too bitter still over the whole thing, I'd like to get to know you. Maybe we could even be friends?"

Annabeth laughed, starting to feel a little woozy from the shots. Maybe it was because she was drunk, or maybe it was because she was still relieved that people didn't hate on her anymore. Whatever the reason was, she found herself going along with it. "I don't see why not. You seem nice enough, and it's not like you were one of the ones who always made fun of me." She shrugged and said, "Besides, I can't be mad at everyone forever."

"That's the spirit!" Piper said excitedly, grinning, and pulled Annabeth off into the throng of people at the party. "Come on, I'm going to introduce you to my friends." They wove their way through the crowd, Piper leading and Annabeth following with no idea where they were and only getting drunker as the alcohol made its way into her system. After weaving their way around for a while, they finally stopped by a group of people.

Annabeth noticed Percy Jackson in the midst of them; she recognized most of them as Percy's pack, and the rest were mainly just girls clinging to Percy and his wingman, Jason. Piper held up a hand at the edge of the group to signal to Annabeth to stop, then went and slapped the girl ogling over Jason, before walking back to Annabeth with a smile as though she had never slapped anyone.

Piper pointed to the girl closest to them, a dark-haired, dark-skinned girl with chocolate brown eyes. She was wearing a red cocktail dress and was standing next to a formidably built Asian boy, who was standing with his arms crossed. "That's Hazel Levesque," Piper said as she pointed to the girl, "and next to her is her boyfriend, Frank Zhang. Hazel's pretty much my best friend. You'll like her."

Annabeth nodded as Piper pointed to Percy and Jason. "You already know Percy, but the blond one is my boyfriend, Jason Grace. The kid over there who looks like a scarecrow trying to get girls is Leo Valdez, and the girl behind him is Calypso Sands. They like each other, but neither of them will admit it. There are a few other kids we hang out with sometimes, like Grover Underwood, but they're not here, and you don't really need to know any of the girls, except for Drew. She's the one hanging on Perce's arm; you'll want to stay away from her. She's nasty to everyone, not just people she doesn't like."

Annabeth's already-confused head swam with the new information, but she nodded along anyways. Piper wolf whistled to get everyone's attention, and when they all looked at her, she pointed to Annabeth. "This is Annabeth Chase!" she shouted over the music and the voices of the other people at the party, the vodka apparently starting to kick in for her. "She's my new friend, which means none of you assholes are allowed to bitch at or about her!"

Piper pulled Annabeth into the group of people and got her into the conversations to help her and everyone else warm up to each other. The night wore on and the group started to get used to Annabeth, and she started to get used to the group. Annabeth, Hazel, and Piper got along immediately, and Jason gave her his nod of approval, which didn't mean much to Annabeth but Piper made it out to be some kind of great thing. Leo was practically drooling over her, but she ignored it, instead choosing to get to know everyone else.

As she talked to everyone, Annabeth realized how nice and relaxing it felt to be part of a group of friends again. Between the alcohol and the people talking to her, she was almost able to forget all of the drama and just be herself. It felt like she was a freshman again, like she was above everyone else and liked by everyone. She hardly noticed how everyone spoke to her except for Percy, who was watching her with an unreadable expression. She also didn't notice that he never took his eyes off of her.

While she spent time with the group, she drank even more, to the point where she could hardly tell right from left and up from down. Her mind grew more and more delirious, and she saw out of the corner of her eye a boy with blond hair and blue eyes, taller than Jason, standing next to a group of people and laughing. He had a scar on his face, and Annabeth thought to herself, _'A scar from a motorcycle accident.'_ She shook her head, confused as to why she thought of her ex-boyfriend, Luke Castellan. She blinked again and he was gone.

"Hey, Chase?" a voice came from beside her and she turned to look at Piper, who was looking at her with a look of concern. Piper placed a hand on her shoulder as though to steady her, but Annabeth hardly noticed it. "You look a little pale. You should sit down." Annabeth turned to look at where Luke had been, but the image was gone. In its place, she saw a blur of red hair disappearing through the door to the emergency staircase.

"No…" Annabeth said detachedly, waving Piper off, "I'm fine… gonna go get water…" She ignored Piper's worried protests and pushed through the group of people to the staircase where she had seen Rachel disappear. She ran up the stairs after the blob of red, stumbling every now and then due to her inability to focus and her distorted depth perception. She finally burst out onto the roof, immediately shivering due to the cold air and feeling goosebumps rise on her arms.

She saw Rachel, standing in front of her, facing away from the edge of the roof and looking at the city. The redhead didn't turn to look at her as she sighed, her breath lost in the breeze. "The city is beautiful at night, don't you think?" the ginger murmured, just loud enough for Annabeth to hear, her hand hanging loosely at her side with a gun in it, though from where Annabeth stood, she couldn't see the weapon. "I used to see so much potential in this city… but then the blackmail started, and now these rumors." She turned to face Annabeth with a sad smile. "It's a beautiful city, but it's ugly, too."

Sighing, she held up the gun blatantly so that Annabeth could see it. Had she not been drunk, Annabeth would realize that Rachel was staring at her with sheer sympathy. "Be on your guard, Chase. It'll most likely be you next… that'd make the most sense. I don't know why they wanted me… but it's done now. I'll give you a chance to leave, which I'm really not supposed to do. If someone comes up here, they'll blame you for this, and I won't be around to prove your innocence."

"RED… what're you planning on doing?" Annabeth slurred; her mind was foggy as her eyebrows furrowed together. She tried to put the connection together about the gun and Rachel's words, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She didn't understand what was going on. It was like a puzzle, but half of the pieces had been flipped around so none of them looked right together. Rachel smiled sadly, lifting the gun to her temple.

"I'll count to three, Chase. You have until the count of three to get the hell out of here."

"RED…" Annabeth muttered, confused. The cogs in her mind churned, causing a splitting headache as she struggled to understand what was going on.

"One," Rachel said softly, a tear slipping down her cheek, her finger resting gently on the trigger.

Annabeth started to realize what was happening and took a tentative step toward Rachel. She was like a deer, afraid to approach but wanting to at the same time, and she didn't want to run over for fear that Rachel would pull the trigger early. Fear came into her foggy mind and made it clear. Her heart sped up in worry.

"Two," the voice came out strained, the sound was barely above a whisper as Rachel spoke. The gun pressed into her temple and she closed her eyes.

Annabeth saw her only chance, and she darted forward. Just as the three slipped out of Rachel's mouth, Annabeth grabbed the gun. There was a moment where time seemed to be frozen; Rachel's eyes widened and she tried to pull away from Annabeth. As she did so, her finger slipped and clicked down on the trigger, and the bullet rocketed into her head. It must've been loud, but to Annabeth, it was silent. Rachel's grasp on the gun slackened, and it ended up in Annabeth's hand as Rachel's still outstretched hand was the last thing to fall to the ground.

The whole event passed in deafening silence. Annabeth didn't hear her own screams and cries as her mouth stretched open in terrified wailing. She fell to her knees beside the girl who had just committed suicide and dropped the gun. She grabbed Rachel's shoulders and shook her lifeless body, yelling for help, calling out Thalia's name and Piper's name, unaware that she wouldn't be heard by anyone ten stories down listening to blasting music and where everyone was talking at once.

She wasn't sure how long she had sat there, screaming for help, before a pair of hands grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet and away from Rachel. Her screams, which had become weaker, became more frantic as she stretched her arms out desperately toward the ginger that lie bleeding on the ground. The arms wrapped around her torso and pulled her back. Tears rushed down her cheeks as her arms finally moved and her hands wrapped themselves around the ones around her waist, trying to pry them off of her to no avail.

"Come on, Chase," a male's voice came gruffly from behind her; it was rough but comforting, and she realized that it was the only thing she seemed to be able to hear. "Calm the hell down. We're getting out of here. Just leave RED; someone else will find her. We don't want to be up here when they do." Despite her desire to stay and get the redhead help, Annabeth found that she was listening to the unidentified voice and seemed to slump back, as though she were too exhausted to fight anymore.

"That's it," the voice murmured softly in her ear, his voice soothing, "come on, we'll take the elevator back down." Keeping one hand around her waist out of fear that she would try to run back to the scene, the mysterious person walked with her to the elevator and made sure her back was constantly toward Rachel. The two of them went back down to the party, which was starting to die down, but still had plenty of people.

The boy put his hands on her shoulders and helped her through the crowd. He found her coat for her and helped her into it, then led her out of the building and hailed a taxi for both of them. He opened the door for her and let her get in first before sliding in behind her and giving the taxi driver an address. They started to drive off, and Annabeth finally looked up to figure out who she was with. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw who it was.

"Jackson?" she muttered, her eyes wide with surprise. He glanced at her, his face still unreadable, but with a look that said 'I'll explain later.' They both fell silent and the driver dropped them off at Percy's apartment. The two of them got out, paid the driver, and headed inside.

The apartment was significantly nicer than most apartments, but it wasn't as nice as Annabeth's penthouse. They entered into a small lobby area where they took off their shoes and coats and hung them up. Annabeth grabbed her phone out of her coat pocket, and then they walked into a kitchen, with pale green walls. It was simple, but the appliances were clearly nothing cheap.

Next to the kitchen was an open living room; the walls there were an off-white, and it had blue couches and armchairs seated around a fireplace. Above the fireplace was a television, and pictures stood on a table by the wall and hung above it. Annabeth's eye caught on a picture of a young boy, who must've been a young Percy, beaming. He stood in between a woman with a kind smile but tired eyes, with brown hair like Percy's that was in a messy bun, and a man, whose face was stoic except for a slight smile. He had Percy's dark brown hair and sea green eyes. They were at the beach, and it looked as though Percy was about seven.

Her eyes lingered on it for a moment before she followed Percy down a hallway to what she assumed was his room. It was surprisingly clean for a boy's room; at least, what she imagined a boy's room to be like. She was never allowed to go in Luke's room while they were dating; he was very strict about that. Percy's room had blue walls with sandy-colored accents. His bed was blue and gold, and was made neatly.

"Usually my room isn't this clean," Percy said amusedly as they walked in, as though he was reading her mind. "My mom was home sick from work for the past few days, and even when she's sick it's like she doesn't know how to stop working. She cleaned my entire room, and I haven't had the chance to mess it up again." Annabeth just nodded in response, still trying to comprehend everything that had happened.

They were silent as Percy walked over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a plain white T-shirt for himself, then an oversized blue swim-team sweatshirt for Annabeth. As he did so, Annabeth looked at her hands and then finally plucked up the courage and said, "Why did you help me?" She looked up at Percy, who was still facing away from her. "Piper told me you stopped making fun of me when the rumors about… Rachel started. But you obviously hated me for more than just a popularity boost, and that's still no reason to help me out so much."

Percy straightened up and tossed the sweatshirt to Annabeth along with a pair of boxers. "Go change," he said in an oddly calm voice as he pointed toward the bathroom. "I'll explain… almost everything when you're done." He waited until she had gone into his bathroom before going into the one across the hall to change as well. They both came back out a few minutes later, and Percy sighed, running a hand through his hair and knowing he'd need to approach her questions.

"To answer your questions, the reason I hated you was something really personal and selfish, but it isn't important now. I don't hate you anymore, and that's what matters. As to why I helped you… I saw everything that happened. I couldn't just leave you there, especially in the state you were in. And I heard what Rachel said beforehand too; if someone really was going after her and is coming after you now, you're going to need someone who can prove your innocence."

Annabeth frowned, thinking about his last sentence. She remembered the blocked number who had texted her before the party. It was almost like they knew Rachel would kill herself… but that wasn't possible… was it? How could someone know that unless they were Rachel? She remembered what Rachel had said about blackmail. Had someone blackmailed Rachel into killing herself? A shiver ran through Annabeth.

"But they don't know I was up with Rachel," Annabeth said matter-of-factly, trying to keep the slight waver out of her voice. "You were the only one there, and you know what happened." Percy looked like he was going to respond when Annabeth's phone buzzed. She picked it up and looked at it, her face paling. She felt herself start to go deaf again like she had on the roof, and started to get tunnel vision.

"Chase?" she heard Percy's voice, which sounded like it was coming from a million miles away. "What's the matter with you?" He walked over to her and looked at her phone, his eyes widening as well. On the screen was the same blocked number who had texted her earlier, the very one who she had made a point to block. There was a picture of her holding the gun and Rachel falling to the ground. It made it look as though Annabeth had killed Rachel.

 _BLOCKED:_ It's amazing what timing can do, right Miss Chase? You and Jackson know what really happened, but the police wouldn't agree when they saw this. Don't worry though; I won't let it get out, as long as you do exactly as I say. I'll be back to you on your instructions. Ta, ta.

Annabeth started to sway on her feet, her eyelids fluttering. Percy grabbed her right before her knees gave out under her and moved her over to the bed, sitting her down on it. He took her phone out of her hands and placed it across the room on the dresser, talking quickly. "Ignore it, Chase. That's not important right now." He struggled to keep his voice steady. "You've had a long night. You should get some rest. You can sleep in the bed; I'll be out on the couch if you need anything."

Starting to get her bearings back, Annabeth looked at him and shook her head slightly. "It's your apartment, Jackson," she said, her voice still sounding unsteady. "You should sleep in here. I'll sleep on the couch."

"No way," Percy said firmly, shaking his head and crossing his arms. "I'm not letting you do that."

"Well I'm not letting you sleep on the couch either!" Annabeth stated, her eyes narrowing in defiance as she raised her voice.

"Then I guess we'll just have to sleep together!" Percy said, his voice coming out louder and snappier than intended. They fell silent, both staring at each other in a silence that seemed to have a fire crackling in the middle of it. Percy's cheeks started to get red and he said, "I-I mean… you know what I mean." He turned off the light and got in bed on the side opposite to the one Annabeth was sitting on.

Annabeth looked at him for a moment before sighing slightly and lying down next to him. Despite being exhausted, she found that she was unable to sleep. She stared at her phone on the dresser across the room and a million thoughts ran through her mind. She kept dwelling on Rachel's words; what had she meant about the blackmail? What had she meant when she said it would make more sense for them to target her? Why was this blocked person bothering her? What were they going to make her do? And why was Jackson, of all people, the only one who could prove her innocence?

She also still couldn't fathom that Rachel Elizabeth Dare was dead, and had died before her very eyes. It just couldn't seem to settle in her head. None of the evening had felt real. She assumed it was her mind trying to deny that it had happened. Or maybe it was the fact that she had been drunk. Her mind buzzed with more details and questions and she struggled to quell them long enough to sleep.

As though he could sense her distress, Percy moved closer to her and gently draped one arm over her body. She tensed for a moment, before relaxing into the gesture. She forced herself to stop thinking about the situations at hand and instead focused on the warmth coming from Percy. Before she knew it, her eyes had closed and she had sunk into a deep sleep.

When she awoke, it was to rays of sunlight slanting through the window. Annabeth's eyes cracked open and she frowned, momentarily confused as to why she was in a blue room when hers was usually burgundy and gold. She soon remembered where she was and looked to the side to see that Percy had already gotten up. Her head felt like it was about to explode, and she groaned, getting out of the bed and immediately feeling the effects of her hangover.

She shuffled out of Percy's room and down the hall, walking out into the kitchen where she saw Percy standing by the stove making pancakes… which were blue. Her eyes squinted as her mind tried to confirm that they were, in fact, blue, and that it wasn't just her hangover making her hallucinate. She realized that they were and decided not to comment, sitting at a chair at the table and earning a glance from Percy.

"You look like hell," Percy commented in a cheery voice with a slight smirk, his eyes moving from the pancakes to her and then back again.

"Yeah, thanks." Annabeth muttered sarcastically, crossing her arms and pulling her knees up to her chest. "I think this might be the worst hangover I've ever had," she mused with a sigh. Hearing this, Percy put the last pancake onto a plate and poured a glass of water, handing it to her before bringing the pancakes and two plates to the table.

Annabeth mumbled her thanks as he came and sat down across from her. She seemed to be very focused on the cup of water, which Percy took as a sign that she didn't want to look at him. He sighed to himself; he couldn't blame her. He had made her life hell up until the night before, and he still couldn't quite comprehend that. He couldn't imagine how it was for her.

Percy wanted to tell her why he had hated her, but the words stuck in his throat. If he told her the truth, she would probably hate him as much as he had hated her. It was selfish and just thinking of it made him cringe. The truth was that he had been jealous of how perfect her life seemed; even though Luke had broken up with her and everyone turned on her, she deserved it, or so he thought. He couldn't imagine how it was fair that she had everything in the palm of her hand.

But then, he had coincidentally received an anonymous text message the night before everyone started to talk about the Rachel rumors. It had attached a copy of Annabeth's parents' divorce files, and her medical files which had information about her depression. He could've sworn all of these files were supposed to be confidential, but seeing them had made him realize that his hatred for Annabeth was unwarranted, and as he got the chance to really think about her and the type of person she was, he felt worse and worse about the whole thing.

Percy was shaken from his thoughts when Annabeth, who was picking at a blue pancake, piped up and asked in a slow voice, "So… why are these pancakes… blue?" Her gray eyes flicked from the pancakes up to Percy, who had a slight smile on his face at her question.

"My mom and I… our favorite color has always been blue. I just like the color, and I think it reminds my mom of my dad. When I was a kid, I used to think it was just impossible to make blue food. So my mom made blue pancakes, and blue chocolate chip cookies… those are to die for." He smiled as he took a bite of his own pancake. "You should try them sometime."

"Maybe I will. I appreciate your mom's creativity," Annabeth said with a small smile, then asked in a tentative voice, which Percy found interesting since she didn't know about his family yet, "Where is your mom, anyways?" He picked up on the very slight tremor at the end of her question, and he realized that she was no longer looking at him, but was looking down again.

"She'll be home later today," Percy replied cautiously, "she works three part time jobs, and she has a shift at the café she works at this morning."

"Wow." Annabeth murmured in an impressed voice, setting her fork down on the now empty plate. "That's amazing… she works three part time jobs, and she still makes time for you. That must be nice." Her voice trailed off and she looked up at Percy suddenly with a bewildered expression. "I'm sorry, that was insensitive," she said quickly before he could say anything. "I hardly know anything about your family; I shouldn't have made an assumption like that."

"No, you're right," Percy said as he started to clean up the dishes. "It is amazing. I… take it your mom doesn't have time for you?"

Annabeth stood up, starting to help him with the dishes, and was silent. She seemed to completely pour herself into cleaning the dishes, which was something that fascinated Percy; when she didn't want to focus on a particular thing, she was able to just throw herself into something else—even something as miniscule as washing dishes.

"Not really." Annabeth stated in a firm voice, her eyes hard and her mouth in a grim line. "She doesn't have much time for anyone but business associates."

"I'm sorry," Percy said softly, and at a poor attempt at a joke, "now look who's being insensitive."

Annabeth shot him a small smile and straightened up. "Thanks for helping me out last night Percy, and letting me stay here by the way," she said in a mildly grateful tone, though her eyes shone, betraying the fact that she was beyond grateful for his help. "I have to get home, though. The maids will be going nuts, and the last thing I need is for mother dearest to be called away from her work."

Suddenly faced with the idea of her leaving, Percy felt as though his heart had sunk slightly, a feeling that was strange and didn't quite make sense to him. After all, they still went to the same school; they'd be seeing each other again in less than two days. Not wanting her to leave, he came up with the quickest compromise he could think of. "I can give you a ride home," he blurted out, then said quickly, "that is, if you want me to."

The blonde smiled and nodded. "Sure, that'd be great. Thanks, Jackson." She went back and grabbed her phone, dress, and coat from the night before. As they got ready to leave, she asked curiously, "What do you want me to do with your clothes?"

Percy shrugged. "You can just give them back to me at school on Monday." Before he knew what he was saying, he went on. "And you can keep the sweatshirt, if you want. It's from a few seasons ago, so I usually wear my newer one anyways." He felt himself blushing as he realized what he had said, but Annabeth just smiled.

"Alright, then. Thanks." She said, and the two of them headed out of the apartment to Percy's car. The ride was mostly silent except for Annabeth occasionally giving Percy directions to her penthouse. After about ten minutes of driving, they pulled up outside. Annabeth started to get out of the car and said to Percy, "Thanks again, for everything. It really does mean a lot to me."

"Anytime," Percy said, and then added quickly, "and by the way, Annabeth, keep me updated on that blocked number, alright? And if anything happens with the… Rachel thing; just let me know. Even though we hated each other up until… well, yesterday, I still don't think you should have to go through this alone." His voice dripped with concern and his face showed it too. He gave her his number quickly, and she thanked him once more before leaving and heading inside.

Percy, meanwhile, was left sitting in the driver's seat of his car, trying to fathom why his heart seemed to be having an attack over this girl who, just two days ago, he had hated with all of his might.

 **Thank you all for the reviews, favorites, and follows! I'm glad people are liking the story so far and giving me some feedback!**

 **As the story progresses, I'll do reviewer replies. But for now, I'm just going to address the reviews in general.**

 **I hope to update weekly, but I might update sooner than that. I'm trying to keep a few chapters in reserve in case I get writer's block. Also, I know some of the characters are going to be OOC for a little bit- but don't worry, I'll have them all mostly in character soon enough! For the sake of this story's plot, I need to bend some of the personalities here and there, but as the story goes on they'll stay true to the original books for the most part!**

 **As a side note, suggestions are always welcome! I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas!**


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